


Gingerbread Cookies

by This_is_not_my_Penname



Series: Advent Ficlets 2018 [12]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Advent Ficlet Challenge 2018, Baking, F/M, gingerbread
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-13
Updated: 2018-12-13
Packaged: 2019-09-17 07:41:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16970556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/This_is_not_my_Penname/pseuds/This_is_not_my_Penname
Summary: For the Advent Ficlet Challenge Day 12: GingerbreadRiza has always loved the scent of gingerbread.





	Gingerbread Cookies

The scents of ginger and cinnamon filled Hawkeye Manor. Riza sat in front of the oven, staring through its clear front. Her mother had carefully cut the little gingerbread men and women and placed them there to bake. The steady  _ tick tick tick  _ of the little timer provided a nice background noise to her watching.

“Riza? Where are you?” her mother called. Riza’s head whipped around.

“In the kitchen, mama!”

The sound of footsteps interrupted her peaceful watching. “What are you doing down there, Riza?”

“I’m watchin’ the cookies, mama! They’re cookin’!”

“Well, yes. But they’ll cook whether or not you watch them.” Riza nodded, but turned back to the oven. She heard her mother sigh. “Riza, don’t you want to go play outside, or read a story?”

“I wanna watch the cookies!”

“You know they have to cool down after they’re done baking, don’t you? And it’ll be a while before you can eat them or we can decorate. Please come do something with us?”

“But the cookies…”

“They’ll still be there, Riza. I promise.”

Riza pouted, but slowly stood up. “How much longer, mama?”

“Quite some time. Come on, Riza. Let’s go read one of your Christmas books, alright? The cookies will be ready when they’re ready.”

***

Riza stared hesitantly at the box on the counter. It was a little cardboard box from the grocery store, and one she certainly hadn’t purchased. She glanced around to see if her father was hovering, and then, when she ascertained that the coast was clear, she slipped toward the counter. She flipped open the box and was surprised to see several gingerbread cookies inside.

“That’s unusual,” she murmured, letting the lid fall back on the front. Her father rarely did anything to celebrate the holidays, but especially not buying cookies. He didn’t believe in sweets.

“Riza!” her father yelled. She sighed, and went to go find him in his study. There would be time to ask about the cookies later, perhaps once he’d had a drink or two. He’d be in a better mood by that point, that was for sure.

Still… Gingerbread cookies. That was something she’d missed for years.

***

Riza rolled the dough out on the cutting board. Roy sat across from her, watching intently. She waited until it was incredibly thin before she reached for the steel cookie cutters. Roy handed them over wordlessly, and Riza accepted them gratefully.

“Why’d you roll it so thin?”

“Cause the cookies bake better if they’re thinner. And if they bake better, it’ll be easier for us to decorate them.”

“We’re gonna decorate them?”

Riza’s brow furrowed. “Have you never made gingerbread men?”

“Never. Auntie likes to cook, not bake.”

“You’ve at least had a gingerbread man before, haven’t you?” Roy shook his head. “Oh! Well, you’ll love it. It’s a ginger cookie, and after they’ve cooled, we’ll decorate them. We frost them, and then we can use the sprinkles or the little candies to give them clothes. Doesn’t that sound like fun?”

“Yeah! I wonder why we never had them when I was a kid.”

Riza shrugged, slowly peeling excess dough from around the little men and women. She carefully set them on the baking tray. “All we have to do is let them cook, and then you and I can have some fun, alright?”

Roy nodded eagerly, watching as Riza picked up the tray and placed it in their oven. She set the little kitchen timer, then pulled him out to the living room. “But Riza… I wanted to watch them bake!”

She chuckled, thinking back to her childhood. “They’ll bake whether we watch them or not. C’mon. Let’s go watch a movie.”

“Okay…” Roy pouted. Riza smiled back. For as much as things had changed, some things about Christmas stayed the same.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think in the comments below!


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